Sestak improves community within his sphere of influence

For Steve Sestak, CEO of MarketSphere Consulting LLC, community involvement and business success are inseparable.

Sestak credits an unwavering focus on community as the biggest reason Kansas City-based MarketSphere should reach $50 million in revenue this year, only five years after he founded it. The company's approach creates long-term relationships by using employees who live in the same community as clients.

"You're as committed to your city as your client is," Sestak said. "That's where your people are, and that community is as critical to your business as it is to your client."

Many competitors send employees throughout the country and world, he said, and the consultants end up counting the days until the job is done so they can go home.

"If you're working for a company at home, you want to do the best job you can, so you can work there again," Sestak said.

The community business plan requires hands-on involvement with nonprofits, but not simply because it's proved profitable.

"Community service is also just the right thing to do," Sestak said.

Sestak spends several days a month working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City, the American Cancer Society and United Way.

He chose the Boys & Girls Clubs because he likes giving back to the organization that provided many fond childhood memories.

Dave Smith, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City, said Sestak was a hard-working volunteer even before starting MarketSphere.

"He finds ways to show our kids that the people on our board volunteer because they truly believe in it," Smith said. "He is just a great example to the kids."

Smith said Sestak recently helped set up a fund-raising effort for the Boys & Girls Clubs. He not only raised money but also had an event with some of the top corporate leaders in the area to persuade young professionals to get involved in community service.

At MarketSphere, Sestak hand-picks employees willing to get equally involved in community efforts.

"All I can say is that the markets we're in that do the most in their communities are our best performing ones," Sestak said.

Bill Downey, CEO of Kansas City Power & Light Co., was co-chairman of the 2006 fund-raising campaign for the United Way of Greater Kansas City. Downey said he was sold on MarketSphere after seeing the passion and leadership Sestak brought to the fund-raising effort.

"We gave him a tough (area) that didn't have a very heavy path of growth, but he marshaled his team, went about his business and had great results," Downey said. "It demonstrated to me what he and his firm are all about."

MarketSphere's approach is all about taking time to understand local companies, UMB Bank CEO Peter deSilva said, which is why MarketSphere successfully formulated a new accountability process for UMB.

"Most consulting organizations come in with a very prescriptive approach: Here's what we know, and here is how you're going to do it," deSilva said. "But Steve came in really listening to our issues and took a very strong interest in our plans. He formulated his plan to our needs, as opposed to force-fitting his solution on our company."

The MarketSphere concept rose from the ashes of Arthur Anderson LLP, where Sestak worked in the consulting division from 1985 to 2002, becoming a partner in 1998. He helped clients select and implement office management software systems.

When it became clear in 2002 that Andersen would not survive the accounting scandal surrounding Enron Corp., Sestak said he was forced to start thinking about what he would do next.

"I think sometimes you need the old baseball bat to the forehead to wake you up a bit and force you to do that soul searching," Sestak said.

Sestak determined that he really liked working with local companies and being able to spend more time at home.

He thought other Andersen employees felt the same way and started recruiting. In the end, six Andersen partners and 35 consultants in Kansas City and Omaha joined him. McCarthy Group LLC of Omaha signed on as a financial partner, making it all possible.

McCarthy Group President Dana Bradford said he liked Sestak's vision and knew he had a proven ability to get things done.

Ever since, Bradford said, the company has continued to prove his faith was justified.

To expand MarketSphere's reach, Sestak looks for partners to lead offices in other cities and set up similar bases of operation. The company now has about 220 employees in 10 cities.

Lockton Cos. CIO David Robinson said Sestak and his team provided technical expertise for a complex computer system that coordinated Lockton's business processes.

Robinson said MarketSphere was able to succeed at Lockton where several others failed, mainly because of the client-focused, results-driven culture Sestak created.

Robinson said he now considers MarketSphere a partner -- a place where he can reach out when in need.

"What better recipe to follow in the future than one that's already been successful?" Robinson said.

Sestak said testimonials like that make his day.

"As CEO, I can't get involved in each of the 200-some-odd projects we have going on around the country every day," Sestak said. "What I can keep a close pulse on is feedback we get from clients and their willingness to serve as a reference. That, to this day, is still the most rewarding part of my job."